Overview

• US casino operator's Q2 revenue rose 4.2%, slightly beating analyst expectations

• Q2 adjusted EBITDA up 3.3% but slightly missed analyst estimates

• Diluted EPS for Q2 rose 23.6%, helped by lower effective tax rate

• Monarch declared quarterly cash dividend of $0.30 per share, in line with annual plan

Outlook

• Company expects to continue investing in properties, share repurchases and paying cash dividends

• Company continues to evaluate potential M&A transactions for long-term value creation

Result Drivers

• SEGMENT GROWTH - Casino, food and beverage, and hotel revenue all increased, driving overall Q2 revenue growth

• HOTEL PERFORMANCE - Hotel revenue rose 13% on higher available rooms and expanded convention and group business at Atlantis

• TAX BENEFIT - Net income and diluted EPS were positively impacted by excess tax benefit on stock options compensation, resulting in a lower effective tax rate

Company press release: ID:nGNX1sXFsD

Key Details

Metric	Beat/Miss	Actual	Consensus Estimate
Q2 Revenue	Slight Beat*	$142.60 mln	$142.18 mln (6 Analysts)
Q2 EPS		$1.78
Q2 Adjusted EBITDA	Slight Miss*	$53 mln	$53.37 mln (6 Analysts)

*Applies to a deviation of less than 1%; not applicable for per-share numbers.

Analyst Coverage

• The current average analyst rating on the shares is "hold" and the breakdown of recommendations is 2 "strong buy" or "buy", 4 "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell"

• The average consensus recommendation for the casinos & gaming peer group is "buy."

• Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Monarch Casino & Resort Inc is $121.00, about 1.7% below its July 17 closing price of $123.03

• The stock recently traded at 18 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 16 three months ago

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